John Mayer changes it up once more in Irvine

July 28, 2008

Updated Aug. 21, 2014 4:38 a.m.

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RESTLESS CREATIVITY: Rather than run through the same routine at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater that he's served up since his album "Continuum" came out two years ago, singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer tossed in several lesser-known tunes and personalized covers, like his take on the Robert Johnson-by-way-of-cream classic "Crossroads." EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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RESTLESS CREATIVITY: Rather than run through the same routine at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater that he's served up since his album "Continuum" came out two years ago, singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer tossed in several lesser-known tunes and personalized covers, like his take on the Robert Johnson-by-way-of-cream classic "Crossroads." EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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NEW 'DO: John Mayer sports a new buzz-cut as he rocks a full house at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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RESTLESS CREATIVITY: Rather than run through the same routine at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater that he's served up since his album "Continuum" came out two years ago, singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer tossed in several lesser-known tunes and personalized covers, like his take on the Robert Johnson-by-way-of-cream classic "Crossroads." EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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UNDER THE LIGHTS: John Mayer rocks a full house at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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RESTLESS CREATIVITY: Rather than run through the same routine at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater that he's served up since his album "Continuum" came out two years ago, singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer tossed in several lesser-known tunes and personalized covers, like his take on the Robert Johnson-by-way-of-cream classic "Crossroads." EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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HANDS UP: John Mayer urges on a full house at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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BREEZY BEGINNING: Warm-up act Colbie Caillat brought a low-key performance before John Mayer's main act at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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RED HEAD: Warm-up act Brett Dennen lets it out before John Mayer's performance at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

RESTLESS CREATIVITY: Rather than run through the same routine at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater that he's served up since his album "Continuum" came out two years ago, singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer tossed in several lesser-known tunes and personalized covers, like his take on the Robert Johnson-by-way-of-cream classic "Crossroads." EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Just one song into his two-hour show Sunday night at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater John Mayer let out a wild boast: "Are you guys ready for the best set list we ever wrote in our entire lives?"

Pretty big talk from a guy whose self-deprecation tends to rival the perpetual false modesty of Coldplay's Chris Martin. Sure enough, that was just about the only touch of (mock?) arrogance he exhibited all night.

Introducing a freshly penned tune, for instance - the pleasant "Taking on Water," easily mistaken for a "Continuum" leftover - he noted that "I've always played new stuff, given you a chance to weigh in on it and call it crap." He later showed his usual humility at having a capacity crowd turn out to watch him shred on six strings - "otherwise it's a basement jam, but you guys have turned it into a revolution." And recounting the first time he heard "No Such Thing" on Star 98 - a station he once dominated but now thinks has gone to the heavy-rock dogs - he recalled that "the first thing I wanted to do was pee, just pee as much as possible."

But he wasn't done bragging about what he had in store here. After his second song, a thickly funky take on "Belief," he upped the ante: "The set list is so right on and so packed that I was told not to trade story time for song time tonight." (See the complete set list here.)

That's probably because Mayer loves to ramble when he gets to talking between tracks - and Verizon's got that pesky 11 p.m. curfew and all. Which he flirted with breaking, by the way - actually went a few minutes past it, if my watch wasn't fast.

Not that anyone really minded; I suspect most people would've stuck around another hour if he'd been willing (or able) to keep going. But that boast about these 19 selections in Irvine - that was a lot for Mayer to live up to, seeing as he's just issued his third conventional live album (not counting iTunes specials). And that double-disc set, dubbed "Where the Light Is" and also on DVD, was taken from last December's masterful, career-encapsulating, three-part performance at Nokia Theatre - conceivably the ultimate John Mayer set list if any such definitive thing exists.

Yet there was something else he uttered at Verizon that let on where his head is at right now, no matter whether Sunday's set list was a new personal best. "If we're playing to 15,000 people and the paychecks get bigger," he pointed out, "then the creative stakes get higher."

They get raised even further when you're playing your third big gig behind the same studio album nearly two years since it came out, something Mayer seemed keenly aware of. What else, other than natural restlessness, can explain why so many songs were rearranged here - and why several staples were dropped (no "Daughters" or, gratefully, "Your Body Is a Wonderland") in favor of shining a light on lesser-known fare like the Herbie Hancock co-write "Stitched Up" or "The Hurt," an acoustic "unraveling of my heart" that began his encore.

Or, for that matter, why he opted to mingle in so many covers, most notably placing his stamp on the Robert-Johnson-by-way-of-Cream classic "Crossroads," which, with Mayer coaxing gritty sounds out of a hollow-bodied Gibson, came off a bit like Sting fronting ZZ Top on a cover of the Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane." (His pretty handling of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" remains from the Nokia set, while Van Halen's "Panama," with guitarist David Ryan Harris handling vocals, was clearly done just for kicks. Mayer, his hair now shorn as short as Jack Johnson's, unerringly replicated both Eddie Van Halen's hammer-on fretwork - on a VH-style Stratocaster, no less - as well as the guitar god's shirtless look, undoubtedly thrilling several thousand women on hand.)

New arrangements abounded, often with bits of other songs tossed into intros or finishes. "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" was redone acoustically, with a fade from Radiohead's "No Surprises." "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" got a moody lead-in courtesy of the Police's "I Burn for You." "Waiting on the World to Change" found Mayer quoting "People Get Ready" in his solo. "Good Love Is on the Way" had more wah-wah; "Bigger Than My Body" had far less falsetto.

Not everything was so overhauled, yet even songs done straightforwardly found Mayer lighting fresh fires underneath them, whether in someone else's cry-mercy blues or his own ("Gravity"). I came expecting a satisfying replay; I knew at least halfway in that he was doing everything he could to reach the proverbial next level.

His best set list ever? I don't know about that. To top my list he'd have to include a few more from "Try!" and probably dust off "Come Back to Bed" in at least eight-minute form. All the same, this was some kind of pivotal performance - proof that as Mayer grows into his role as our next Clapton, he isn't about to rest on his laurels.

Those who arrived early - primarily the throngs of lawn rats - were treated to (or endured, depending on your taste) opening sets from two very laid-back performers, Brett Dennen and Colbie Caillat. The former continues to build a following for his likeable folk-pop the grass-roots way, while the latter has coasted into the mainstream on the wings of a couple of generic love songs and a young-Diana-Krall visage ideal for Teen Vogue.

Only trouble is that the 23-year-old's songs are so monotonously easy-breezy they can't sustain attention. Whether she sings of overcoming nerves ("One Fine Wire") or learning how to let "Feelings Show," everything comes out the same - bland. She even managed to suck all the joy out of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."

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